The United Auto Workers union announced last month it would be endorsing Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. in the Detroit mayoral race, calling him “a longtime advocate for working-class people.”

Kinloch, a senior pastor at Detroit’s Triumph Church, is the only candidate in the mayoral race who has not held an elected position. He is currently battling for second place in the race behind frontrunner Mary Sheffield — who continues to maintain a sizable lead. The top two vote getters in the Aug. 5 primary will face off in the November general election.

In Detroit, a political endorsement from the UAW has always carried considerable weight, but membership is down in recent decades, and there are shifting political views within.

Today on The Metro, UAW Region 1A Director Laura Dickerson joined the show to discuss the endorsement and why it matters.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

It has been an eventful year in Michigan politics with the Michigan Legislature dynamically evolving. This week on WDET’s MichMash, Gongwer News Services’ Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben analyze the major events in a live recording at the Go Comedy! Improv Theater in Ferndale.

They were joined by Detroit Free Press Politics Editor Emily Lawler and
Politics Editor for The Detroit News, Chad Livengood.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

• Whether the Michigan Legislature will make its July 1 deadline
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her approach to working with President Donald Trump
• How Michigan compares on the national stage in 2025

There has been a major sea change in Michigan politics this year.

With Republicans taking over the state House, President Donald Trump back in the White House, and Democrats maintaining their majority in the state Senate — their is a new dynamic in the state capitol.

“This is the first time that I’ve covered one chamber in Democratic control and one in Republican control,” Lawler said. “…It’s been just an interesting dynamic to watch and sort of see what the chambers are teeing up for each other and what of those things they actually expect to move — which I think is a smaller pool than I initially anticipated.”

Livengood called the current relationship between the chambers a “legislative Red Rover.”

“Getting the actual votes on some of these big issues, like roads, is going to be the real test,” he said.

Kasben pointed out that the Legislature was able to compromise on major legislative efforts like paid sick leave and minimum wage packages in February.

They also talked about the notable shift in how Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has navigated national political dynamics this year, and specifically her relationship with President Trump.

Despite their fraught history, the pair have taken a friendlier tone towards each other in recent months, as they discuss future plans and initiatives for the state of Michigan.

“She’s engaged with him on things that she’s wanted to get done, and I’m not sure that all of those will get done, but certainly Selfridge Air Force Base — the upgrades coming there, the new mission coming there — is significant, that’s something that Michigan has wanted for years,” Lawler said.

But Lawler also noted that Trump isn’t someone Whitmer can rely on politically, pointing to recent discussions about pardoning some of the individuals convicted for conspiring to kidnap her.

–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

More from WDET:

• MichMash: Live in Lansing!
• Whitmer ‘not happy’ about possible pardons for men involved in her kidnapping plot
• Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall says education budgets could be done by July 1

As the July 1 deadline approaches, Michigan House Republicans have unveiled and passed a budget for K-12 schools. In this week’s episode of MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben discuss what’s inside the proposal and the next steps.

Plus, former Lieutenant Governor of Michigan and President and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan, Brian Calley, joins the show to talk about the state of small businesses in Michigan and the insurance cost crisis.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

• How are insurance costs affecting small businesses?
• What’s in the K-12 budget that Michigan House Republicans just passed?
• What direction is the Michigan Small Business Association leaning during this major election year?

Calley said the cost of healthcare has been taking a major toll on small business owners.

“Four out of five of business owners tell us it’s getting in the way of expanding the business. Three out of four said it’s an impediment to hiring,” he said. “As you look at the overall economic performance of the state, there are subtle changes that could be damaging over time”.

He said the increased cost is coming from health systems and pharmaceuticals.

Hear the full episode on all major podcast platforms.

John McElroy is a thought leader in the auto industry. He currently broadcasts three radio segments on WWJ, writes a blog for Auto Blog and a monthly column for Wards Auto.

Speaking with WDET News Director Jerome Vaughn at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, McElroy warned that the industry is at “a near breaking point, particularly in Michigan.”

“There is a host of things that is hitting the industry all at once, and unprecedented in history,” he said. “So it’s something where I think we need much greater leadership than what we’re seeing right now within the industry itself — from our elected leaders as well — because we’ve seen the U.S. auto industry shrink tremendously over the last couple of decades, and without the proper policies and procedures coming in place, we’re in danger of losing a whole lot more.”

McElroy says the price of cars is too high, tariffs are hurting the market, and the electric vehicle transition has stalled. 

–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

At the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island last week, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist announced new incentive programs aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and retaining talent in the state. 

“I think this is all about making it easier for people to say yes to living in the state of Michigan, yes to growing in the state of Michigan, yes to succeeding in the state of Michigan,” Gilchrist told WDET. “That’s what I want to do.”

The Make MI Home funding includes $210,000 for housing for new grads looking to start businesses in Detroit; $100,000 for attracting and retaining college students in Flint; and nearly $60,000 for housing and childcare programs in the Traverse City area, among other programs. The grants will also help support building out broadband internet, and making solar energy more accessible to people in Michigan’s urban areas.

“People need to see a future for themselves everywhere — a community they can afford, a home that they can afford, and we have worked to do that and build solutions for that all across the state of Michigan,” Gilchrist said. “But I know that one of the anxieties that parents have all across Michigan, whether you are on the eastern Peninsula or the east side of Detroit where I’m from, parents are worried about their kids growing up, leaving and never coming home.”

Gilchrist says the bottom line of these programs is to ensure Michigan remains competitive.

“We want them to say yes in Michigan, so we can build the things that matter. And so that means one: they have to be confident that our workforce is prepared. They have to be confident that our infrastructure is solid,” he said. “That’s why we’ve made these historic investments.”

Gilchrist has taken a larger role in announcing statewide programs more recently — likely tied to his run for governor.

He is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race along with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. On the Republican side, State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt and Michigan Congressman John James have also announced their candidacies for governor, while Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will be running as an independent. 

—WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

New U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is downplaying the effect of tariffs on the auto industry.

The former Congressman and ex-chair of the Michigan GOP was confirmed to the ambassadorship in early April. 

In an interview with WDET during the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference, Hoekstra said the economy is strong, and that worries about tariffs and a trade war with Canada are overblown.

“They’re not going to have a dramatic impact, OK?” Hoekstra said. “They will have an impact, but it’s not fundamentally going to change this relationship.”

Hoekstra said he thinks there will be a full re-working of the trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada within the next couple years.

He also dismissed concerns about President Donald Trump’s desire to make Canada the 51st state, calling the threat a “sign of affection” — something that has been outright rejected by Canadian leadership and its populace.

“Why they’re offended by such a generous offer, I’m not sure, but they are,” he said. “We have to deal with it, and we will.”

Car trips from Canada into the U.S. have dropped by nearly a third since Trump started the 51st state rhetoric. According to a recent poll from the Association for Canada Studies & Metropolis Institute, a majority of Canadians said it’s no longer safe for them to travel in the U.S.

Still, Michigan is consistently a top destination for Canadians for business and leisure travel, and with the newly constructed Gordie Howe International Bridge set to open by the end of the year, Hoekstra says he expects the relationship between the two countries to improve.

“Canada is our second largest trading partner, 70-80% of what they export comes south. That’s not going to go away,” he said. “If anything, we’ve got a president that is energizing the American economy. We have a prime minister in Canada that wants to try to do the same thing in Canada. And when they’re both successful, we’re going to have an energized North America.”

–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said that the Detroit-Windsor area is the “busiest active border crossing in North America,” and that about $200 billion of trade flows between the two countries annually. 

A border that is active has plenty of infrastructure that needs to be maintained. Regine Beauboeuf, CEO of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel for American Roads, oversees the bridges, tunnels and toll roads that exist between the two countries. 

She joined The Metro live from Mackinac Island on Wednesday to discuss what her job entails and to provide more insight on the consequences of the trade war between the U.S. and Canada. 

American Roads is a U.S.-based owner and operator of transportation infrastructure, including toll assets, and currently operates three toll bridges — including the international tunnel connecting Detroit with Windsor.

She spoke about the region’s unique cross-border economy and why she doesn’t expect to see a major impact at the border from Trump’s recent tariffs.

“Together Detroit and Windsor, really that’s its own ecosystem,” she said. “We’ve been working together; it’s not just trade, it’s also people [who] will come to work, like the health care workers who are coming here; you have people with families or in-laws in other countries…so there is a very strong history between Windsor and Detroit and I don’t think you’ll see that being affected.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro